OPINION
West Ham have reportedly deemed FC Porto attacker Moussa Marega too expensive to pursue and they must quickly change that stance by going all out to recruit him this summer.
The Daily Mail reported on Thursday that after talking to the Portuguese giants about their 27-year-old attacker that the Hammers now believe he would simply cost too much at this stage.
It was previously claimed by CM Jornal earlier in the summer that Porto would be willing to listen to offers in the region of £30.9million for Marega.
It’s understandable that the club have already invested a tremendous amount in the playing squad this summer and are looking for cheaper options to boost the Hammers’ attacking threat but Marega is worth splashing the cash on.
The Daily Mirror reported that the Hammers were willing to cash-in on Sam Byram, Cheikhou Kouyate, Michail Antonio, Edimilson Fernandes and Reece Oxford in order to finance their quest to sign Celta Vigo attacker Maximiliano Gomez.
The British newspaper claimed that the La Liga side were demanding his £35million release clause was met in order to part company with him even though the Hammers were thought to be aiming to convince Celta Vigo to let him go for less.
According to the Mirror the Hammers had seen a £27million bid rejected for Gomez and that is awfully close to how much money it would take Porto to allow Marega to leave.
Therefore the Hammers must change their stance on potential signing Marega as clearly based on their plan to sign Gomez, then they have ways of raising the funds needed to sign the Porto attacker.
The 27-year-old is a better option to pursue then Gomez as Marega has scored goals where ever he has gone and his style of play seems like it would be suited to playing in the Premier League.
The Porto attacker is a powerful presence up front and given that he has also tricky feet which allow him to side step his opposition, it’s easy to imagine him excelling in England.
Also Marega is the definition of a goal machine and proved how lethal he is in front of goal last season when he scored 22 goals in 29 league games for Porto.
While Gomez’s ability to score 19 in 36 outings last season was just as impressive, Marega just looks like being the better bet.
Therefore the Hammers must change their reported stance on signing Marega this summer by going all out to recruit him instead.
